2 Hail, sweet band of lovely infants,
Welcoming the holy Child,
First-fruits of His martyr-glory,
Innocent and meek and mild.
Not by willing, but by dying,
They gave up their all for Thee,
Not by willing, but by dying,
They gave up their all for Thee.

3 Jesus, holy Child from heaven,
Who for children wast a child,
Lambs upon Thine altar laying,
Make us humble, meek, and mild,
That in living and in dying
We may evermore be Thine,
That in living and in dying
We may evermore be Thine.

Text Information

Tune

The authorship of this tune is not clear, with different editors attributing the tune to different composers (or not naming one at all). See the instances list above for the different attributions.
From William J. Reynolds, Companion to Baptist Hymnal (1976):
"Nettleton first appeared as a two-part…